1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multiple access telecommunication network comprising at least one primary station which is coupled via a shared transmission medium to a plurality of secondary stations, said secondary stations each comprising access request means for transmitting an access request to the primary station
The present invention also relates to a primary station, a secondary station and a method for use in such a telecommunication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
A telecommunication network according to the preamble is known from the conference paper "Network Evolution for End User Access to Interactive Digital Services" by C.-J. L. van Driel and W. A. M. Snijders, Proceedings of "The Last Mile of the Information Superhighway", IBC conference, Sydney, August 1994.
Such telecommunication networks are used for communication between several secondary stations and a primary station, via a transmission channel which is, at least partially, common to some of the secondary stations. Such transmission channel can comprise an optical fibre, a coaxial cable, or a radio link. Application of such transmission systems can be passive optical networks, cable TV systems, local area networks, multimedia networks, systems for satellite communication and mobile radio systems.
In transmission systems utilising a common channel for some secondary stations it must be ensured that no interference is caused by secondary stations simultaneously transmitting information to the primary station. To ensure an adequate service for the secondary stations, it also is required that the efficiency of the data transport over the network be high, in particular under heavy load conditions.
A problem with the present access protocols is that the efficiency can deteriorate rapidly under heavy load conditions, which can lead to a total collapse of the network.